Best Seasons to Prune a Tree
We discovered this little gem about pruning your trees from our guest blogger Aaron Sanders. Little did we know that winter is a great time to prune your trees, and this weekend in the Twin Cities will be perfect!
Well-pruned trees produce more flowers and more fruit. And if you prune trees on a regular basis, it helps ward off pests and diseases so you won’t have to care for them as much. A pruned tree is a healthy tree.
But is there a best season to prune a tree? Actually, there is.
Winter can be a prime time for pruning. Pruning in the dormant season invigorates trees because it leaves them with extra root and energy reserves that will support and kickstart the remaining branches. It also makes your job a lot easier because you can see the branches more clearly without having leaves get in the way. And when you see the results in the spring and summer months, you’ll be glad you took the time for pruning in the off season.
Not all flowering trees are created equal. Some will be more beautiful than others. Some will provide days, even weeks of gorgeous color, while others will be gone in the blink of an eye. But the best flowering trees offer even more: they attract pollinators, fruit feed birds, and even small mammals.
Not only do they provide life to many creatures, but they also frame and shape the garden. Yes, keeping a tree pruned will allow it to fit snugly into the landscape. It can also maintain the color flowing all year through.
When choosing trees, think beyond the beauty of the spring. Consider mixing it up and planting trees that will give you blossoms into summer and fall. And when winter flows around once again, sending most trees into dormancy, keeping some green will ensure color even on the dreariest days.
Also, consider interesting leaf shapes, strong wood structures, fall color shows, and bright berries. Flowering trees allow the romance factor of your garden to come through loud and clear.
What trees should you choose? What trees perform well? Here are a few that work in many climates.
Flowering Dogwood
You can’t miss the snow white dogwood blossoms that transform the landscape into a winter wonderland. Or choose the pink flowered form to add a pop of color to any corner of your garden. The flowering dogwood is considered one of the best bird trees, with birds choosing to find shelter and building nests deep within its branches. You can also time the fall migration by watching as the berries form and ripen to their peak. In Minnesota, red twig dogwood adds drama to your winter landscape too.
The biggest challenge with a dogwood tree is keeping it well pruned. You’ll find its characteristic horizontal branches forming when planted in high shade. Yet they can also develop full, rounded crowns when placed in the sun. They need good drainage and air circulation in order to remain a healthy part of your garden.
Flowering Crabapple
You can’t miss a crabapple tree; in fact, there are more than 700 named varieties of crabapples available for planting in your garden. Crabapples are springtime bloomers that cover themselves with white, pink or red flowers in the spring.
Crabapples are small trees that love taking up a sunny section of your garden. They are hardy and reliable, creating a dramatic structure that adds depth to any corner. They are excellent wildlife trees that attract bees and other pollinators, keeping them fairly active with life. Yet to create their well-rounded appearance, they will need an occasional pruning. It’s important to keep their branches from intertwining, their shapes nice and rounded.
Magnolia
Here in Vancouver, you can’t miss the undeniable beauty of the Magnolia tree. Magnolia trees offer about 125 different varieties, giving you everything from small, creamy colored goblet-shaped flowers to larger, bright pink or purple flowers that give off fragrant scents. These are trees you don’t want to tuck back into a corner; they belong on a path where you can enjoy them in all their glory.
Flowers usually bloom in spring and early summer, depending on weather conditions. It’s a surprisingly hardy tree that grows in all kinds of conditions.
The magnolia tree can be considered an evergreen tree or a deciduous tree, depending on its variety. Pruning depends on the type of tree and is often necessary to help it retain its natural shape.
Chaste Tree
While it seems like spring and early summer are filled with color, it can be difficult to introduce color into your garden later on in the season. Enter the chaste tree. Chaste trees bloom into August here in the Pacific Northwest, where its luminous lavender spikes of flowers are a welcome site to gardens. You’ll find wands of flowers appear peeking through the lush, gray-green foliage. Because of their striking beauty, they are best planted near paths where their beauty can be appreciated up close. They are a hardy species, requiring very little extra water and seldom need care.
Crape Myrtle
Crape Myrtles are one of the best ways to introduce color into your garden all through the heat of the summer. Crape myrtles display dense, cloud-like flowers in a variety of colors, from white, pink, purple or red. Even a single tree can have the appearance of a grove since multiple trunks are the norm. They may start out with satin-smooth bark, but you’ll quickly recognize a crape myrtle as its paper-thin bark begins peeling away, exposing polished, mottled tree trunk as time goes by. Crape myrtles love the sun and flower best when it’s hot. Therefore, it’s best to leave them out in the open rather than tucking them back against the landscape.
Of course, not every tree should be pruned in the winter. Crabapples, spruces, sumacs, cherries and plums all thrive well. When pruning a flowered tree, for most, the sole purpose is to enhance flowers. And that means to avoid stunting flower production.
For trees that bloom in the spring, prune when the flowers fade. For trees that flower in mid to late summer, prune them in winter or early spring, before flower production begins. Yet for most flowering deciduous trees, the only time that isn’t good to prune is the fall. When you make a cut to a tree, it takes time for the wound to heal. The coolness of fall as it turns into winter stunts the process, leaving the tree vulnerable to fungi and decay. And once damage sets in, it can begin spreading rapidly during the rainy season.
Aaron Sanders has worked in landscaping for 15 years and continues to be an asset to Mr. Tree Services. He firmly believes that your attitude determines your altitude in life.